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Mac In the Day #1; CC: Legitimate or Lackadaisical?
Topic Started: Dec 7 2010, 01:35 PM (171 Views)
McEntire
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Mac in my day the City Council worked very hard to legitimize itself...

Much of that vision, that view of the City Council as a breeding ground for Senators and an outlet for the voice of the people has been lost, in my opinion. Although it has, more recently, produced great Europeians like Asperta and Abbey Anumia, there seems to be a general loss of decorum and of purpose. This is problematic in several ways. First, if the City Council doesn't follow its purpose, a movement could easily and justifiably form to get rid of it. It's not like it hasn't happened before, and the removal of the CC would leave a gaping hole in Europeian society. Secondly, when the CC is seen as a joke, all legitimate arguments against the Senate are seen as a joke. For instance, with the passing of the AG Act, when I first came to the Council, there were a group of CC radicals who were upset that the Senate hadn't passed an act that passed with unanimous Council support. There was even talk of overriding the Senate. Due to this, the City Council was seen as a bunch of nuts, and it caused problems for the CC for terms to come, not to mention that those radicals included porn-spammer Aexnidaral. If the CC doesn't become a serious lawmaking body sooner rather than later, all of these warnings could come to fruition, and then where would Europeia be?

A question we must ask, however, is why this is all happening. In my view, the Council does not have a clear direct purpose of leadership. While it has been headed up by great Europeians such as Aurora, Ogastein, and Oliver Grey, each of them seemed to have a different view of the purpose of the body. Ogastein saw it as a trail-blazing law machine, while Oliver wanted to focus on Charter reform. While every Mayor for the last several terms has been an able administrator of the Council, and none of their approaches have been "wrong" per se, they weren't consistent, and this has caused those in the Council to be unsure of its purpose. The City Council needs to define a purpose within itself before it can go about fulfilling that. The SHIT Act is a great example. If the CC wants to be a bed for joke acts, which it has been before and very well could be again, that's a perfectly fine direction to take. They will lose many members and be looked at as a theater rather than a legislative body, but will nevertheless have a place for newbies to come in and have something to do, and I respect that. If it does not want to be a theater, however, joke legislation should, when proposed, not be taken seriously, and certainly not be passed to the more sober and serious Senate.

So, how can the City Council get its legislative mojo back? First, bills must start to filter through. Old members who have gone there to die, start writing some amendments or something for new members to look at, critique, and vote on. New members, don't be afraid to get out there and share your ideas. Perhaps a thread for idea discussion could be made so that new members who may be skittish about writing a whole bill by themselves could get a little help. Only two bills have passed this entire term, and both were DOA in the Senate. We can do better. Secondly, Senators, set an example for what the CC should be like. Not only should Senators take their jobs very seriously, but use the Senators lounge to point out something where you see the CC has slipped. It wasn't a very long road to the current state of affairs, it can't be a long road out. Let's not despair at this slight lack of purpose, let's go into this term with a renewed sense of vigor! That's how I see it, and if you disagree, feel free to yell at me below!

"Mac In the Day" is an EBC opinion column and has no bearing on the opinions or actions of the President or the Ministry of Culture.
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Rach
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Great article McEntire ^_^
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Ogastein
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While I agree with essentially everything is this article and found it to be a very great summation of the problems the City Council faces, this part stuck out to me:

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Not only should Senators take their jobs very seriously, but use the Senators lounge to point out something where you see the CC has slipped.


I posted in the Senator's Lounge and voiced my disappointment with the SHIT Act, Senator Jusduckria agreed and several people jumped down my throat. Many times when Senators post their opinions are ignored or scolded.
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McEntire
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Ogastein
Dec 9 2010, 05:16 PM
While I agree with essentially everything is this article and found it to be a very great summation of the problems the City Council faces, this part stuck out to me:

Quote:
 
Not only should Senators take their jobs very seriously, but use the Senators lounge to point out something where you see the CC has slipped.


I posted in the Senator's Lounge and voiced my disappointment with the SHIT Act, Senator Jusduckria agreed and several people jumped down my throat. Many times when Senators post their opinions are ignored or scolded.

And just as many times as that has happened it's led to a reasonable discussion and heightening of debate. Just because people may not agree, which by the way most people did, doesn't mean you shouldn't do your Senatorial duty to keep the CC in line legislatively.

Thank you both :D
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Lethen
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Good article!
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Asperta
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Nice read ^_^
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Henry


I want you to watch this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDdeOncpD5E

Listen to the lyrics. Over and over again. Until they are burnt into your head and you will never forget them. Then, when you have that one part of the song stuck in your head, that singular section that isn't the chorus, but is just as memorable, come back and read this thread again.

Why?

Because you have completely ruined this song for me.

The lyrics for it are supposed to be:

Back in the days, when we were young; When everything was like a loaded gun.

You know what I hear over and over in my head now since you posted this? I think you can guess.

Thanks. A lot. <_<
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Henry


Alright. Sorry. All I read the first time was the title. This is a good article, McEntire.

My problem is, though, that each mayor of the CC lately does have their own view of what the Charter means, and none of them are wrong.

Don't you think it's time to admit that there is something wrong with the charter and tighten it up a bit more? I believe that's what Ollie was trying to do before everyone jumped down his throat for trying to change everything.

It isn't just that those things need to happen, Mac. As you said, the CC needs consistency before it can even hope to begin making itself a competent body of legislators. Like the Senate, it needs people who aren't going to change things up every term. For it to get the consistency it needs, we need to have a Council Charter that people consistently view from the same perspective.

You guys gave it too much flexibility. -shrugs-

I want to take this idea a step further, though. We can have our cake and eat it, too. Why not create another legislative body for all the joke legislature people want to come up with. That body would be run like the CC in terms of how people can join, and would work like the Senate where once the voting is done; it's done. This should take the pressure off of the City Council members, as they would have something for their nonsense, and the City Council would be better suited to pass only laws that are worth the Senates time to look at.

But I do think the Charter is the main problem, and you pointed that out yourself this time.
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